This is the Life Contest

by Erik Olsen on

We mentioned a while back a pretty cool contest by the makers of Chivas Regal Scotch Whisky wherein they offered several lucky souls $100,000 and the opportunity to travel the world. The winners would globetrot and then send back their notes, photos and such on the various places they felt were the best in the world. The idea was to find “the best that life has to offer”. One assumes each leg of the journey involved quaffing Chivas…not that there’s anything wrong with that.

According to the listing at the time, said adventurers “must be curious, intelligent, with strong writing skills and a sense of the world around them”. If that doesn’t describe a gadling reader, I don’t know what does.

Well, the winners appear to be two people named Bill and Dana, and they offer their thoughts on these best places at the site here. So what are their findings? Well, here’s a sample to make you extra-special jealous:

23 Years Old and on the Road

by Erik Olsen on

Oh, to be 23, free and on the road. To be able to travel around the world…AND, get this…to have a newspaper pay for it? Or at least, have them publish regular articles while you travel. Such is the life right now of 23-year old Haley Edwards, a world-weary gal, apparently fresh (or near so) from college and sharing her thoughts about the world with others.

Now, I could make all sorts of nasty quips here about how youth is wasted on the young, but that would certainly be an expression of envy. Those of us who also traveled in our youth for long periods know that being on the road is about as healthy an experience as exists for mind body and spirit. So good for young Haley.

Let’s see where young Haley went:

Haley’s stated purpose is to go to places that scare her. That places her first and foremost in Egypt with a camel named Michael Jackson <insert poor-taste hump joke here>, and then on to Israel, Jordan Kashmir andIndia.

And so it goes. The pieces here (though I confess I didn’t read them all, are thoughtful enough for a 23-year old. Needless to say, for most of us the joy of reading them comes from the vicarious remembrance of our own past travels. We are glad for Haley, but we read and hope and wonder if we, too, will be able to set out upon the world again someday so free and innocent and hopeful.

Naw, I doubt it.

War: The Advantages for Tourists

by Neil Woodburn on

I quite like having a popular tourist destination all to myself.

Unfortunately, this usually means one of two things; either I’m traveling in the off season and it is raining, or some recent catastrophe or civil unrest has swept through the region.

Or, it’s the Middle East.

A recent article in The Guardian explores the lone silver lining behind the current dark clouds enveloping the Middle East since the most recent war started; empty tourist locations.

Kevin Rushby discusses the advantages that something horrific as war has for the adventurous travel; cheaper accommodations, far more welcoming locals, and even special treats like using historic bathrooms in house museums.

Sure, it’s a bit sick to plug travel to such places during such times, but I have to admit, Rushby does make a good case for doing so.

Teen Gets Passport & Heads to Middle East for MySpace Man

by Adrienne Wilson on

This I don’t understand. Apparently a 16-year-old girl out of Michigan tricked her parents into letting her get a passport to go on a trip to Canada with some friends of hers, but in reality the young girl was on her way to Israel, alone. Katherine R. Lester was on her way to meet a 25-year-old man from Jericho as described on his MySpace.com account when U.S. officials in Jordan convinced her to head home before reaching the West Bank. Her parents report their child as being a straight-A student, student council member and one to never give any troubles or problems. However something seems really strange and bizarre about the whole deal. How did she even make it that far out the country? Sure teens travel alone all the time, but to Tel Aviv? Maybe I’m a little out of the know? I just thank goodness someone spotted her before she reached her final destination.

The deputies in her town have since confiscated the family’s home computer and were taking it to the FBI’s Bay City office for a very thorough analysis – I’m sure. Sigh, kids on the internet.

via AOL News

Middle East Vacation: Try Jordan

by Erik Olsen on

The ruins of Petra are world-famous for their beauty and historical heritage. They were used, you might remember, in the third Indiana Jones film. Jordan has gotten a bad rap because of the war on terror and because when people think of the middle east they get all weirded out, as if there are suicide bombers around every corner. Not true. They are around every other corner. Just kidding.

Anyway, I just read this piece on CNN.com about the rise of Jordan as a tourist and business destination. The Kempinski Hotel in Amman gets high marks as a (somewhat expensive) place to stay. The country is benefiting from the influx of wealthy Iraqis as well as U.S. servicemen on their way to Iraq, but also from an increased interest from Western travelers. If you want to see the Middle East, this could be a good place to go.